Sime Darby offers £1b for palm oil group

Malaysian palm oil plantation company makes offer for London-listed New Britain Palm Oil with a nod from Papua New Guinea's prime minister.

Malaysian conglomerate Sime Darby on Thursday made a 1 billion $1.7 billion offer for London-listed New Britain Palm Oil, which owns huge swathes of plantation land in Papua New Guinea, and has secured approval from the country's prime minister.

Regulatory hurdles are increasingly a key challenge to closing deals, as was the case for New Britain's largest shareholder, Malaysian investment firm Kulim.

Kulim, which holds a 49% stake in New Britain Palm Oil, had last year made a...